IBM Adds To PureSystems Partner Ranks, Expands Financing Options

IBM has grown the number of partners working with its PureSystems product line to more than 700, and some 1,300 individuals at partner companies have undergone training on the converged infrastructure servers.

IBM is still recruiting channel partners for the PureSystems ecosystem. This week the company said it is expanding its PureSystems training and support programs for partners and adding new financing options for the products.

"We've been really ramping up to make sure we've got a good ecosystem of partners," said Paul Burnet, vice president of IBM WebSphere, in an interview. The 700-plus partners include solution providers and resellers, ISVs and distributors.

[Related: Q&A: IBM's Hennessy Says Partners Are Looking For Higher Value Opportunities ]

"We're certainly still recruiting and it's across the board," said Laura Voglino, vice president of channels and routes transformation for the IBM Systems & Technology Group, in an interview.

The IBM PureSystems, launched in April, combines the company's server, storage, networking and management technologies into a single, integrated platform. IBM is touting PureSystems as an industry game-changer because of the product's ability to reduce IT complexity and costs.

At the time of the launch IBM said it had some 500 partners lined up to work with the PureSystems products.

IBM has not disclosed sales figures for the PureSystems products.

While IBM is selling the PureSystems products directly, Mark Hennessy, IBM general manager, global business partners and midmarket, has said he expects most PureSystems sales to be made through IBM's channel partners. In an interview with CRN, he said the products reduce the amount of time solution providers need to devote to basic implementation and system set up, allowing them to focus on higher-value services.

Burnet said the products are also gaining traction in countries that IBM calls "growth markets," such as Brazil, India and China.

Business partners have built more than 160 applications and solutions specifically for the PureSystems platform, IBM said. PureSystems also runs the thousands of applications developed for IBM's Power and System x servers and their Windows, Linux, AIX and System i environments.

IBM said it continues to expand the PureSystems training, marketing, certification and technical validation support it offers partners. The company also helps partners develop and test PureSystems applications in IBM Innovation Centers in major cities. And, 500 developers are using the PureSystems Cloud Trial system to build applications through the IBM SmartCloud.

NEXT: IBM Offers PureSystems Leasing, Trade Ins For Upgrades

OneTree Solutions, a Luxembourg-based ISV, is leveraging the PureSystems "patterns of expertise" automated configuration and management capabilities. With those features OneTree "was able to slash deployment of our PriceLenz software from three weeks to eight minutes," Managing Director Denis Avrilionis said in a statement. "PureSystems is the most advanced integrated cloud solution in the market."

On the financing side, IBM is offering customers the ability to lease the entire cost of a PureSystems installation, including hardware and software. Customers can defer their first payment for 90 days. And, IBM's Global Asset Recovery Services are buying back some aging servers, including those made by competitors Oracle and Hewlett-Packard, for customers upgrading to PureSystems.

IBM said those options help customers avoid paying cash upfront and lower their total cost-of-ownership.

PUBLISHED AUG. 3, 2012